NAZIK ARMENAKYANArmeniaNowBy Gayane MkrtchyanArmeniaNow reporter Lusik’s sea-blue eyes hold the reflection of the red-glowing tonir, the fire pit used in the process of making lavash, Armenian flatbread. She slaps another sheet of flour mix against the tonir’s hot wall. The paper-thin bread starts to change from yellow to brown, and with tender hands used to working in the heat, Lusik removes another piece that will add to the bulk of about 330 slices of lavash she makes every other day.“My flower bread…” Lusik says, scattering the lavash delicately on a special cloth on the floor. For 20 years, every morning at 5 a.m. while her village sleeps, smoke rises from the yerdik (an opening in the roof for smoke) and fills Lusik’s tonratoon (the shed which houses a tonir), and in a few minutes the sweet aroma of lavash ride the wind. “Only a lazy person can say that there is no job and sit doing nothing, however, it is not true. There are people in our village who, roughly speaking, do not have even bread to eat, but they do not want to trouble themselves,” says 46-year-old Lusik Grigoryan. Lusik’s family lives in Goght village, Kotayk province (40 km north of Yerevan). In 1990s, when everything was in a mess in the country (Armenia), under the newly formed economic system the family decided to bake bread and sell it. “In the beginning we baked on a machine, but one day the wires of the electricity were cut off, and my husband said, ‘Lusik, can’t you bake lavash in tonir?’ I replied that I would try. Twenty years have passed since that try,” she recalls. In the beginning Lusik herself took her baked lavash to the market to sell it there, but when the number of her clients increased she had to give her lavash to people who later resold it so that she could bake more. Analyzing the past years from an economic aspect, Lusik says that in the beginning she sold lavash directly for 40 drams (about 10 cents) a sheet. Now, re-sellers pay her 100 drams a sheet and re-sell for 120 (about 40 cents). Costs of flour and wood have steadily risen. “Lavash indicates the poor economic condition of our life,” she says. The mild glide of the rolling pin is heard. A dough ball is being rolled out flat under the proportionate pressure of the rolling pin. The woman who works with the rolling pin is Lusik’s sister – Gayane. She skillfully keeps the evenness and flatness of the opened dough, a key part of the lavash process. The rolled out dough dances in Lusik’s hands, after which Lusik stretches it on a rafada (a special handmade board made of thick cloth and straw pulp) and evens the edges of the rolled out dough, sprays a few drops of water and scatters some flour on it, and takes the rafada with the dough to the hot tonir. There must be someone to open and close the lid of tonir to check whether lavash is ready or not, and if yes, take it out with a special iron pole the tip of which is hooked. Usually this job is done by Lusik’s husband – Torgom, but this time he is replaced by his mother – 73-year-old granny Terez. “Bread baking also needs skills, not everyone can bake such lavash. It depends on a person’s talent and hands. There are people whose lavash breaks easily, and they cannot eat it and give the bread to hens,” says Lusik’s mother-in-law. Every Sunday is Lusik’s market day. At 8:00 a.m. she is already in the market, and she usually does not have lavash left in two hours. She sells lavash at 100 drams (30 cents) each; six lavashes make one kilo. “Traditionally lavash has been baked by women in Armenian families; nevertheless it is a very difficult job to do for a woman - from preparing dough, making balls of them to baking. Simply I earn my living baking lavash,” Lusik says. The woman, who bakes 2,000 lavashes per week, confesses that she has no special secret, she simply does everything properly. “I do not mean to brag, but the number one bread in the bazaar is mine, because everybody asks me what I do, that I have such delicious and pretty lavash. I have no secret, I knead dough properly, make balls of it . . . I work hard, and as a result, I get good bread” she says. The fire disappears gradually, and Lusik lights a new fire. Throwing dry wood into the tonir, she says that they change the clay oven four years, every time paying 30,000 drams (about $90). This is her fourth tonir. It is a work that allows for contemplation in the quiet of the morning, and Lusik thinks about news of the recent mayoral change in Yerevan. She does not want even to hear about the upcoming Parliamentary elections in spring. “No matter what happens I will keep on baking lavash. With difficulty, yet we manage everything, and I am pleased that I can help my children. If I were displeased I would not do this heavy work so long,” says Lusik taking the recurrent flower-bread out of the tonir.

Another Lavash LadyՏԻԿԻՆ ԼԱՒԱՇBelow we read that she is quite a talker and a joker. Watch the video and tell us which moves faster, her hands or her mouth? Maybe she should change her name to Manoush Lavashian

12:47, 6 December, 2011Manoush Yeghishyan has been kneading dough and baking lavash for residents of the Janfida village in Armavir Marz for twenty one years.Manoush first acquired her baking skills simply to put fresh bread on the table for her children. She gradually got hooked on making the Armenian traditional staple and says she won’t give up even if she strikes it rich.She says that her craft has brought her many friends and a sense of pride and respect.Manoush says lavash making is a profession like any other and that it should be marked by a holiday like other professions – teachers, soldiers, doctors. She says she’ll march to the parliament to urge MP’s to pass such a bill if they don’t on their own.She currently takes orders from the villages 88 families and says that a computer would really make the process that much easier.“Now, people have to walk to our house to place their orders. If there was a special holiday for us bread bakers, the villagers might get up a collection and buy me a computer. I could converse with people, check to see if the weather will be good for making lavash and many other things. Having a computer is a dream of mine,” Manoush says.Using a computer for her business isn’t the only novel idea that Manoush has come up with. She recently decided to put up a notice on her house that in the event of a heavy snow those women in the village who want bread should send their husbands on a sled to pick her up.Manoush changed her mind after having second thoughts about the risks involved. “I could fall off the sled and get hurt,” she said.When we arrived, Manoush was at the house of a neighbour, baking bread. We heard the loud laughter of the women from afar. As residents put it, Manoush’s tongue ‘has no bones’ and she like to tell barbed jokes that put all around in stitches.But the bread baker’s smiling face conceals a host of problems she faces and would rather not talk about.The family house is unsafe; the outside walls on the verge of collapsing. Manoush says that a village neighbour helped them to buy construction material to build a new house. The family has already laid a new foundation close by but need funds to proceed.Manoush lives with her husband, his mother and their three children. The only bread winners are her and a son who works on a nearby fish farm.After a day’s work, Manoush brings home 2-3,000 AMD and ten lavash. When she goes to a village home to bake bread, Manoush sets her rates based on the customer’s nature.“I charge good folk 2,000 and the grumpy ones, 3000. I also take home ten pieces. Maybe Indira Gandhi never ate fresh bread every day, but we do,” Maroush notes.She says that what gets her ire is when townsfolk start to make jokes and ridicule people from the villages. Maroush frowns and says that you can even see this attitude on TV.“There are villagers today who live better than city people. They have the kitchens, shower and everything. Conditions are good in the village. We can afford to get all dressed up and look spiffy like anyone else. I can get all duded up so that even my neighbours wouldn’t recognize me,” Maroush says, adding that village life is much more interesting than the city.In addition to a bread baker, Maroush is also something of the village match-maker. Her skills in pairing up village lovers once got her into trouble. The mother of a girl found out what Maroush was up to and gave her a good thrashing.Right now, the number one issue for the family is building the new house.This past summer, Manoush took part in a culinary exhibition in Baghramyan and garnered much attention. She’s even been offered a few movie roles; and one from London. She hasn’t made up her mind and must talk it over with the family.“Things are different in the village. A woman just can’t get up and leave, especially to go so far. People are much more jealous. A man will not let his wife take off like that alone,” is how Manoush describes the situation.The famed lavash maker has also become particular regarding the reporters she’ll consent to see.She’ll no longer meet with this or that reporter for an interview. Prospective reporters must look the part and be recognized in their field; just like Manoush is in hers.Taking this into consideration, I requested that some people intercede with Manoush on my behalf. Luckily, I made the grade.

APARAN, LAVASH and OUTER SPACE1 Removing bread from tonirBY JOSEPH DAGDIGIANThe city of Aparan lies on one of Armenias main north-south highways, about 45 miles north of Yerevan. The road is heavily travelled with much of the traffic stopping at the popular bakery on the highway there. Within the bakery are a number of tonirs used to bake bread. Tonirs are large beer-keg shaped clay barrels traditionally fired by wood at the bottom of the barrel. As a concession to modernity, however, these tonirs are fired by gas. Flattened dough is slapped onto the inside wall of the tonir, and a few minutes later the baked bread is peeled off. Available at the bakery is a large assortment of breads as well as sweet and savory pastries. Aparan is noted as well for its pure, refreshing water available at fountains along the street.[2] Aparan bakeryOther claims to fame are Aparans ancient tombs on a hill to the west of the town, though I think these are seldom visited, as well as Aparans 4th century Basilica. Aparans major attraction, however, is its memorial commemorating the battle of Bash Aparan. This was the site of one of three heroic battles in May 1918 against Turkish armies which invaded Caucasian Armenia. The Turkish intent was to finish off the remnants of the Armenian nation in the aftermath of 1915. The two other battles were at Sardarapat and Karakillisa (now Vanatsor). Three Armenian victories saved the Caucasian Armenians from annihilation and led to Armenias declaration of independence on May 28, 1918; the first independent Armenian state in over 600 years. Overlooking the Bash Aparan memorial is the tomb of General Dro Kanayan; an Armenian freedom fighter and the commander who led the fateful battle there.Passing through Aparan on the way home I stopped to get some lavash bread (large thin sheets of bread) at the bakery. I ordered 3 sheets of lavash, figuring that would last a week or so. Much to my surprise the sheets of lavash were the size of tablecloths. As a result the lavash lasted well over a month, but remained edible though a bit dry. I mentioned this to my friend VT:[3] Aparan bakeryJD: I just finished some lavash I bought over a month ago. Im surprised that it was still edible!VT: Of course, lavash lasts forever. When it dries out just moisten it a bit. By the way, have you seen photos of those astronauts and cosmonauts in space?JD: Yes, on TV. Why?VT: Theyre fools, do you hear me, fools! They squeeze their dinners out of toothpaste tubes! When we Armenians go into space were going to take lavash. It lasts forever.JD: And I suppose when we land on the moon well build a tonir?

APARAN, LAVASH and OUTER SPACE1 Removing bread from tonirBY JOSEPH DAGDIGIANThe city of Aparan lies on one of Armenias main north-south highways, about 45 miles north of Yerevan. The road is heavily travelled with much of the traffic stopping at the popular bakery on the highway there. Within the bakery are a number of tonirs used to bake bread. Tonirs are large beer-keg shaped clay barrels traditionally fired by wood at the bottom of the barrel. As a concession to modernity, however, these tonirs are fired by gas. Flattened dough is slapped onto the inside wall of the tonir, and a few minutes later the baked bread is peeled off. Available at the bakery is a large assortment of breads as well as sweet and savory pastries. Aparan is noted as well for its pure, refreshing water available at fountains along the street.[2] Aparan bakeryOther claims to fame are Aparans ancient tombs on a hill to the west of the town, though I think these are seldom visited, as well as Aparans 4th century Basilica. Aparans major attraction, however, is its memorial commemorating the battle of Bash Aparan. This was the site of one of three heroic battles in May 1918 against Turkish armies which invaded Caucasian Armenia. The Turkish intent was to finish off the remnants of the Armenian nation in the aftermath of 1915. The two other battles were at Sardarapat and Karakillisa (now Vanatsor). Three Armenian victories saved the Caucasian Armenians from annihilation and led to Armenias declaration of independence on May 28, 1918; the first independent Armenian state in over 600 years. Overlooking the Bash Aparan memorial is the tomb of General Dro Kanayan; an Armenian freedom fighter and the commander who led the fateful battle there.Passing through Aparan on the way home I stopped to get some lavash bread (large thin sheets of bread) at the bakery. I ordered 3 sheets of lavash, figuring that would last a week or so. Much to my surprise the sheets of lavash were the size of tablecloths. As a result the lavash lasted well over a month, but remained edible though a bit dry. I mentioned this to my friend VT:[3] Aparan bakeryJD: I just finished some lavash I bought over a month ago. Im surprised that it was still edible!VT: Of course, lavash lasts forever. When it dries out just moisten it a bit. By the way, have you seen photos of those astronauts and cosmonauts in space?JD: Yes, on TV. Why?VT: Theyre fools, do you hear me, fools! They squeeze their dinners out of toothpaste tubes! When we Armenians go into space were going to take lavash. It lasts forever.JD: And I suppose when we land on the moon well build a tonir?

A small restaurant in West Bengal is baking Armenian lavash in
traditional tonirs. "This restaurant is my small effort to tell a
story as beautiful and age-old as Armenia, rather than the history
of Armenians in West Bengal," chief Sabyasachi Gorai says, the India
Today reports.

In the chef's own words, the restaurant is the "fruit of his lost
nostalgic past."

"Lavash (the bread) is a word that has found a permanent spot in
UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list (incidentally the only
food item to make it to that list from around the world). A word that
goes so deep not just into the food history of the world, but also the
culture that Armenia had to offer. Till date, we are baking lavash at
Kashmir in traditional tonirs after so many centuries. This restaurant
is my small effort to tell a story as beautiful and age-old as Armenia,
rather the history of Armenians in West Bengal," Saby says.

Saby grew up in Asansol, a small town steeped in Armenian influence,
around the then-thriving bakeries, the churches and the graveyards,
playing with the Armenian boys, under the tutelage of the elegant and
well-spoken principal of AG Church School, Mrs Aedinnangze. Those
memories came flooding back when Saby picked up a book written by
his father Sakti Gorai, a scholar and researcher, called 100 years
of Coal Mining History. The twin towns of Asansol and Durgapur,
and neighbouring suburbs Kulty and Raniganj, came back to Saby,
and with them the whiff of the many Armenian dishes. The idea of
Lavaash germinated thus. The year was 2015, the centenary year of
the Armenian genocide.

"While assimilating the Armenian story I have also taken influences
of other foreign settlers in Bengal like the Portuguese and the French.

My grandmom's cook book from 1938 passed on to my mom and my mom's
hand-written recipe notes have also done their bit in finalising the
Lavaash menu. Traditional Armenian food is not available anywhere
and it took me a lot of research to get this right," says Saby.

Lavash, a traditional thin flatbread widely consumed in Armenia, Iran,
Turkey, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, as the latter countries have
disputed UNESCO's recognition of Armenian lavash as an Intangible
Cultural Heritage of Humanity. According to the Turkish daily
Habertürk, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have
prepared and submitted a document to UNESCO regarding lavash, calling
for its recognition as part of the common heritage of these countries.

UNESCO will discuss the document named "Flatbread-making and sharing
culture: Lavash, Katyrma, Jupka, Yufka," and a final decision will be
announced at the 11th meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for
the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, to be held
between Nov. 28 to Dec. 2 in Ethiopia. Azerbaijan and Turkey had
previously disputed Armenia's request for recognition of lavash as its
traditional food. The UNESCO document was revised to state "lavash as
an expression of culture in Armenia." Turkish ministerial officers
state that lavash has also a ritual place in Turkish culture,
especially weddings.Mostly prepared by women in villages, lavash is
commonly consumed with cheeses, greens or meats. Throughout Turkey,
lavash bread is usually served as an appetizer in restaurants and used
in all kinds of rolls, with vegetables, beef or chicken.

The UNESCO website describes lavash thus: "A simple dough made of
wheat flour and water is kneaded and formed into balls, which are then
rolled into thin layers and stretched over a special oval cushion that
is then slapped against the wall of a traditional conical clay oven.
After thirty seconds to a minute, the baked bread is pulled from the
oven wall."